THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 13 
744 
The Rural New-Yorker. 
BHE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home*. 
Established 1850. 
Elbebt S. Cabman. Editor-In-Chief. 
Herbert W. Colling wood, Managing Editor. 
Joan J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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able to ' THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 13, 1897. 
The following books are sent as premiums for single 
yearly subscriptions. Send us SI and the name of 
your friend or neighbor, and you may take your 
choice of the books. 
The Forcing Book, by Prof. Bailey. 
The Nursery Book, by Prof. Bailey. 
The New Potato Culture, by E. S. Carman. 
The Business Hen, by H. W. Collingwood. 
David Copperileld, by Dickens. 
Of course, the name will count for other premiums. 
Those who have earned books in this way thank us 
after reading them, and wonder how we can possibly 
give so much for so little service. We cannot afford 
to do it for the one year’s subscription, but we find 
that the subscribers who come in this way are picked 
men. As a rule, they appreciate the paper and be¬ 
come permanent subscribers. You must have one 
such neighbor. Send us his name—and dollar. He 
will receive The R. N -Y. until January 1, 1899. You 
may select any one of the above mentioned books. 
« 
The ducking of a duck caused a heap of trouble in 
an Indiana town. One of the feathered bipeds fell 
into an open cistern, and four neighbors worked 
several hours before they got it out. The proceedings 
became so spirited that a general fight resulted, and 
now there are damage suits and criminal proceedings 
galore against all the parties. The duck escaped with 
his life and, so far as heard from, seems to be the 
only individual concerned who is perfectly happy. 
There is great lawing over little things. 
O 
The Klondike gold discoveries have caused search 
for the precious metal in many unpromising locali¬ 
ties, and officials in the mints are kept busy testing 
specimens sent them for an expert opinion. These 
specimens include all sorts of shining rock and dust— 
pyrites, talc, mica, and crystal-sprinkled rock. One 
of the commonest specimens to arouse such hopes is 
iron pyrites or “ fool’s gold ”, plentiful in the New 
Jersey clay pits. The finders of these treasures are 
not satisfied with any but the highest opinion, hence 
send their finds to the experts at the mint, to be bit¬ 
terly disappointed by the result of the tests. Most 
farmers would do better to hunt for plant food in 
familiar waste products near them. 
© 
More and more are city people of wealth going to 
the country for a greater or less portion of the year. 
In many localities, they are welcomed by the resi¬ 
dents, because they are good buyers of the products 
the country people have to sell. But their coming is 
not always proving an unmixed blessing. Large 
numbers of these people from New York have settled 
in the Catskill Mountain region, and have established 
private parks and game preserves. Special efforts 
have been made to gain control of trout streams, and 
when such streams have been acquired, they have 
been carefully guarded. This has made trouble. The 
old inhabitants have been accustomed to fish where 
they please, and have resented efforts to prevent 
them from doing so. They consider the streams and 
woods public property, and as these private preserves 
have been increasing, they have found themselves 
more and more restricted, and many of them have been 
arrested for trespass. Generally, however, the juries 
were in sympathy with the accused, and refused to con¬ 
vict. In one case, litigation has been going on for sev¬ 
eral years. A New Yorker owns a large tract of land 
along one side of the river, claims to own a strip two 
rods wide along the other side, thus shutting off the 
public. A man who claims to have owned this land for 
30 years, fished there and gave others permission to 
fish. They were arrested, hut on trial were acquitted. 
Then the plaintiff was sued for false imprisonment; 
the case has gone through two courts, and now goes 
to the Court of Appeals. This condition of affairs is 
unfortunate for several reasons. It is making class 
distinctions, and arraying class against class. It 
may be strictly legal, hut it is not good public policy 
to allow any man or class of men to monopolize, in 
this wholesale way, any of these natural privileges. 
It is repugnant to all our ideas of right and freedom. 
© 
A prisoner in the Ohio penitentiary, writes this 
note for the prison paper : 
If nutriment for the body were aa easily obtainable on this 
earth as food for the soul, there would be no penitentiaries and 
no criminal courts. 
There is food enough produced in this country to 
afford every person a full meal. Why is it not “ ob¬ 
tainable ” ? One reason is that millions of dollars 
that should be spent for food are spent for intoxicat¬ 
ing liquor and tobacco. Another reason is that the 
cost of transportation and handling between producer 
and consumer is too great. Thus we find farmers in 
the Far West last year, using potatoes and corn for 
fuel, while people in this city were hungry or living 
on charity. We regret to say that so-called “food for 
the soul ” is cheap and easily obtained, because mere 
words are found to be cheaper and easier than self- 
denying deeds. 
© 
Last week, we gave some figures about American 
railroads and the business done by them. Let us now 
consider the American farm laborer or “hired man.” 
According to the latest estimates, there are 3,454,673 
farm laborers in the country. Their average earnings, 
outside of board, are $105 per year, which means 
$362,740,665 annually paid to farm labor. Compare 
this single item with a few other public financial 
statistics : 
Pensions paid in 1896.$139,280 078.15 
Salaries of all school teachers. 113,661.874.00 
Value of all church property. 679,630,139.00 
Total interest on farm mortgages.... 76,728,077.00 
Total military expenses. 52,947,075.00 
The farm hands, if they could pool their wages, could 
pay all pensions, all school teachers, and all farm 
mortgages, and have enough left to outbid the Mor¬ 
gan syndicate and buy the Union Pacific Railroad. In 
1890 the entire expense of conducting all American 
towns and cities of over 4,000 inhabitants was $212,- 
799,056. Out of their wages, the hired men could 
have paid for it all and had enough left ($149,941,509) 
to buy all the fish caught in American waters, all the 
craft owned on the rivers in the Mississippi Valley, 
and all the fertilizers and all the candy made in this 
country in 1890. The following table shows what 
was paid workmen as wages in some other lines of 
work : 
Blacksmiths, etc. $26,796,927 
Boot and shoe workers. 66,375,076 
Bakers, etc. 28,789,047 
Carpenters. 94,524.197 
Clothing workers. 111,389,672 
Cotton mill hands. 69,489 272 
Foundry and iron workers. 148,389,063 
Furniture workers. 43,054.942 
Masons. 77.529,287 
Printers. 105,083,075 
Tobacco workers. 44,767,989 
These wages were supposed to cover the cost of liv¬ 
ing. The farm hands received their $362,740,665 in 
addition to their board. At a low estimate, this was 
worth $125 per year for each one. To make a fair 
comparison with the wages paid other workers, we 
may safely put the hired man’s yearly account at the 
immense sum of $894,584,790 ! Yet the hired man as 
a laborer has been neglected by the politician and 
the labor organizations. Even in the West and 
South, where the Populists have secured control of 
affairs, the farm hand as a class laborer has been 
but little considered. Legislation has been in the 
interest of the farm owner , and it is probable that 
the 198,272 printers in the country have secured five 
times as much special legislation as have the 
3,454,673 hired hands. Why is this ? 
© 
The figures showing the cash earnings of farm- 
laborers in this country may well startle those who 
have not given the matter much thought. This vast 
sum is supplied in small amounts, and much of it is 
quickly spent—often foolishly—because the country 
offers no chance for investing small sums. Many a 
hired man carries his few dollars around with him, or 
hides them in his trunk or hag in an effort to accumu¬ 
late enough to give him a fair start. Here we have 
one strong argument in favor of postal savings banks. 
Every little post office would he an agency for these 
banks, for the money invested would be lent to the 
Government and the smallest sums would be accepted. 
Postmaster-General Gary says of such banks : 
Postal savings banks would put the breath of life Into the dead 
money of the United States. Have you ever thought what a dead 
thing money is when it is not in use ? It is the deadest thing in 
the universe. There are many millions of such dead money in 
the country. It is hoarded away in stockings, buried under the 
hearthstones, tucked away behind the rafters, and planted here 
and there in the earth, because the owners have no faith in 
private savings institutions. They have faith in the Govern¬ 
ment, and they would bring the money out and deposit it in the 
postal savings banks. 
He estimates this hoarded or “ dead ” money at $350,- 
000,000, most of which would be lent to the Govern¬ 
ment at low interest if fair opportunity were offered. 
Free rural delivery of the mails, and postal savings 
banks are two popular and needed things which Con¬ 
gress should start at its next session. 
© 
The value of our native sparrows as weed-destroy¬ 
ers is not sufficiently appreciated. Weed seed is the 
chief item of their winter food, and they thus destroy 
an immense quantity annually. Nor do we fully ap¬ 
preciate the value of birds in destroying insects ; it is 
easier to exterminate the birds than to control the 
noxious insects. It must be remembered that a bird 
that does harm at one season may more than balance 
it by the insects it destroys at another. Most birds 
rear their young exclusively upon insects, and them¬ 
selves subsist largely upon such food during the 
breeding season. They eat the food that is most 
accessible, and when insects are very plentiful, they 
are eaten by birds that do not ordinarily molest them. 
© 
The death of Henry George in the heat of the excit¬ 
ing political campaign, in New York City was, per¬ 
haps, the most tragic public event in this country 
since the death of Garfield. Even those who disagreed 
with the social theories of Mr. George recognized the 
fact that he was a sincere and true man, who had 
honestly and fearlessly given the best powers of his 
life to what he considered the cause of the poor. 
There was genuine sorrow at his funeral. We venture 
to say that there is no politician in the country whose 
death would be more sincerely mourned than was 
that of Henry George. The world would be better 
off if the men who have done so much to build up our 
great political parties would give their lives fearlessly 
and honestly to the uplifting of the common people. 
© 
BREVITIES. 
I’m hungry aa a bear. I’d like to knock 
Right off an’ Bee what mother’s got to eat; 
’Taint safe though in that kitchen, while the clock 
Lacks fifteen minutes—hope she’s got fried meat. 
I guess I’ll feed them horses anyway. 
What’s that I smell? Taint possible, you ’spose ? 
Yes, ’tis! She’s got the oven open now, 
An’ that’s mince pie, or I aint gut no nose. 
Mince pie! An’ mother smilin’ as a peach— 
An’ I ez holler ez a gourd! Che wee! 
Ef Paradise don’t come within my reach, 
I dunno where to find it—here I be, 
With mouth a waterin’ like a hungry steer, 
An’ hot mince pie fer dinner—life aint all 
A valeo’ sorrers with such blessins near. 
There goes that clock—now, mother, don’t ye call! 
Don’t need to blow no horn—what’s that, mince pie ? 
Right out the oven ? Now I w T anter state, 
My feelin’s right before all hands—sez I, 
There aint your equal no where—pass that plate 
A forced laugh is a try sigh kill. 
Crimson clover is a friend incarnate. 
Make a plan, then knit your wit to it. 
Long stories accumulate short stores. 
Let the hen enter your mind and roost there. 
A “ roast ” of beef—cursing at the scrub steer. 
“The universal color for cowardice is yell oh! ” 
It takes meat to meet the egg needs of the laying hen. 
Well bred and a good butter—the thoroughbred ram. 
The “ losing streak ” may often be traced to the little leak. 
Read the report of the meeting of Institute managers, page 748 
Make the hen scratch. Foot power makes her fay the turn out 
eggs. 
Too many people skim the milk of human kindness before they 
offer it to others. 
A good thing to lay aside for a rainy day is work—odd jobs 
well done make life even. 
For our own home use, we prefer to buy skim-milk for drinking 
and cooking, with the cream in a separate can. 
The Baldwin apple is not good enough for those Vermont grow¬ 
ers, page 737. What will our western growers say to that ? 
Do men put new peach trees into old holes ? There Is divided 
counsel for you in that peach yellows discussion on page 738. 
A good Spitzenburg apple baked with a spoonful of sugar at 
the core! Ever eat one? No! Well, you have much to live for. 
We like to see something green in Nature’s eye at this season 
—Crimson clover, for example. Rye is much better than bare 
ground. 
Which is the better man ? It is an even race between the man 
who goes about always seeking a quarrel, and him who always 
dodges an unpleasant Issue or duty. 
The Congress of Argentina has decreed that all patent medi¬ 
cines sold in that country must carry, printed on the package, the 
composition of the medicine. They must, in other words, “ tel 
what they are made of.” We would like to see how some of our 
American medicines look when sold in Argentina! 
There was a recent request for a cheap way to protect water 
pipes from freezing. Here is a Virginia reader’s plan: “The 
best method of preventing water from freezing in pipes is to 
place around the pipes a box constructed of 12-inch plank, the 
pipes being in the center of the box, and pack nearly fresh horse 
manure tightly into the box. In 15 years’ experience, I have never 
seen this plan fail.” 
